4 ms·

as someone who learned continental french, when i visited quebec i saw "melon d'eau" and i nearly lost it.

zahlman 1y ago
That's the first gloss DeepL gives me for it. I've never before in my life heard "pastèque" and I doubt I'll remember it.
- af78 1y ago
  « Melon d'eau » ? For watermelon? I thought it was a joke, but well, Wikipedia mentions it: « La pastèque [...], parfois appelée melon d'eau » (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C3%A8que https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C3%A8que) Everyone says « pastèque » in mainland France, where I've lived for over 40 years. I've never seen melon d'eau and I doubt anyone will understand it unless they know the English word.
  - talos_ 1y ago
    This is a remnant of British colonization. French-speaking population didn't know any English, so you have a lot of these literal translations. I've heard "flour" uttered with the French pronounciation (fl-oo-r, instead of homonym of "flower") in New-Brunswick. I was floored. Took me a while to figure out what they meant. Clearly, this originates from non-English speakers reading "flour" on a sign and just running with it. Also, consider that the British conquest happened before watermelon was highly prevalent in France or North-America. It's unsurprising to see terminology diverge in this case.
  - olalonde 1y ago
    Conversely, I'm a native French speaker from Quebec, and honestly, this is the first time I've ever come across the word "pastèque."
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
werdnapk 1y ago
Quebec has it's own dictionary.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- talos_ 1y ago
  Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF) promotes the french language and adapt new English words (whereas France typically integrate English words in their vocab). The website Banque de dépannage linguistique (BDL) will have a lot of useful resources if you're interested! For instance, how to write a professional sounding email, names of official documents, invoice templates. Highlights (good and bad): * emails -> courriels (courrier + iels; mail + similar sounding syllable)* * spam mail -> pourriels (pourri + iels; rotten + similar lexem as courriels) * to spoil (as in spoilers) -> divulgâcher (divulguer + gâcher; to reveal + to ruin) * to mansplain -> mecspliquer (mec + expliquer; man + to explain); This one is outrageous (and uncommon) because it's an homonym to "m'expliquer" (explain to me) * to browse (the web) -> naviguer (as in "to navigate"; browser -> "navigateur")
  - kgwgk 1y ago
    > * to browse (the web) -> naviguer (as in "to navigate"; browser -> "navigateur") I’m old enough to remember when it was called web surfing and everyone used Netscape Navigator.
  - throwawaymaths 1y ago
    oh cool pourriels is amazing. Contrastingly the continental "mail" for "email" is... disappointing?
- dadadad100 1y ago
  And Quebec has it’s own English. I spent a few years working in Montreal and soon learned about “passing the vacuum” and “closing the light”. There are so many bilingual folks that concepts and word orders flow back and forth. I had an interesting discussion with a bilingual anglophone about how in English elsewhere it’s called a “pacifier” and not a “souce”
throaway955 1y ago
how about une boîte aux lettres?
- throwawaymaths 1y ago
  given the englishisms in quebecois i was amused to see arrêt signs, because I'm pretty sure they say stop in france.
mikrl 1y ago
Meanwhile I went hiking up on Georgian bay and saw a bilingual sign for a local landmark “Overhanging point Point Overhanging”
nucleardog 1y ago
Also good luck planning any meals. Dejeuner is breakfast in Quebec (lunch in France). Diner is lunch in Quebec (evening meal in France).
- talos_ 1y ago
  déjeuner is a literal translation though. "Breaking fast" -> "dé-jeuner" (undo fasting). French people typically say: - breakfast - petit-déjeuner (small breakfast) - lunch - déjeuner (breakfast) - diner - diner Québecois people say: - breakfast - déjeuner - lunch - diner - diner - souper (eating soup; probably historical roots like "getting your big meal of the day" which is likely broth + potatoes)
  - kgwgk 1y ago
    > Québecois people say So do (typical) French speakers in Belgium and Switzerland.

That's the first gloss DeepL gives me for it. I've never before in my life heard "pastèque" and I doubt I'll remember it.

af78 1y ago
« Melon d'eau » ? For watermelon? I thought it was a joke, but well, Wikipedia mentions it: « La pastèque [...], parfois appelée melon d'eau » (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C3%A8que https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C3%A8que) Everyone says « pastèque » in mainland France, where I've lived for over 40 years. I've never seen melon d'eau and I doubt anyone will understand it unless they know the English word.
- talos_ 1y ago
  This is a remnant of British colonization. French-speaking population didn't know any English, so you have a lot of these literal translations. I've heard "flour" uttered with the French pronounciation (fl-oo-r, instead of homonym of "flower") in New-Brunswick. I was floored. Took me a while to figure out what they meant. Clearly, this originates from non-English speakers reading "flour" on a sign and just running with it. Also, consider that the British conquest happened before watermelon was highly prevalent in France or North-America. It's unsurprising to see terminology diverge in this case.
- olalonde 1y ago
  Conversely, I'm a native French speaker from Quebec, and honestly, this is the first time I've ever come across the word "pastèque."
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]

werdnapk 1y ago

Quebec has it's own dictionary.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
talos_ 1y ago
Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF) promotes the french language and adapt new English words (whereas France typically integrate English words in their vocab). The website Banque de dépannage linguistique (BDL) will have a lot of useful resources if you're interested! For instance, how to write a professional sounding email, names of official documents, invoice templates. Highlights (good and bad): * emails -> courriels (courrier + iels; mail + similar sounding syllable)* * spam mail -> pourriels (pourri + iels; rotten + similar lexem as courriels) * to spoil (as in spoilers) -> divulgâcher (divulguer + gâcher; to reveal + to ruin) * to mansplain -> mecspliquer (mec + expliquer; man + to explain); This one is outrageous (and uncommon) because it's an homonym to "m'expliquer" (explain to me) * to browse (the web) -> naviguer (as in "to navigate"; browser -> "navigateur")
- kgwgk 1y ago
  > * to browse (the web) -> naviguer (as in "to navigate"; browser -> "navigateur") I’m old enough to remember when it was called web surfing and everyone used Netscape Navigator.
- throwawaymaths 1y ago
  oh cool pourriels is amazing. Contrastingly the continental "mail" for "email" is... disappointing?
dadadad100 1y ago
And Quebec has it’s own English. I spent a few years working in Montreal and soon learned about “passing the vacuum” and “closing the light”. There are so many bilingual folks that concepts and word orders flow back and forth. I had an interesting discussion with a bilingual anglophone about how in English elsewhere it’s called a “pacifier” and not a “souce”

throaway955 1y ago

how about une boîte aux lettres?

throwawaymaths 1y ago
given the englishisms in quebecois i was amused to see arrêt signs, because I'm pretty sure they say stop in france.

mikrl 1y ago

Meanwhile I went hiking up on Georgian bay and saw a bilingual sign for a local landmark “Overhanging point Point Overhanging”

nucleardog 1y ago

Also good luck planning any meals. Dejeuner is breakfast in Quebec (lunch in France). Diner is lunch in Quebec (evening meal in France).

talos_ 1y ago
déjeuner is a literal translation though. "Breaking fast" -> "dé-jeuner" (undo fasting). French people typically say: - breakfast - petit-déjeuner (small breakfast) - lunch - déjeuner (breakfast) - diner - diner Québecois people say: - breakfast - déjeuner - lunch - diner - diner - souper (eating soup; probably historical roots like "getting your big meal of the day" which is likely broth + potatoes)
- kgwgk 1y ago
  > Québecois people say So do (typical) French speakers in Belgium and Switzerland.